Written Answers Wednesday 15 November 2006

Scottish Executive

Alcohol Misuse

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS (a) beds and (b) places on treatment programmes are available for the treatment of alcohol addiction.

Lewis Macdonald: This information is included in annual Corporate Action Plans which are produced by the 22 alcohol and drugs actions teams in Scotland. This information can be found at:

  http://www.drugmisuse.isdscotland.org/dat/cap/0607.htm.

  The numbers of NHS beds are not separately identifiable from beds funded from other sources.

Animal Welfare

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it provided the funding for the recent cull of 18,000 partridges in East Lothian following an outbreak of Newcastle disease and, if so, what the cost was of the cull.

Ross Finnie: The State Veterinary Service led the operational response to the Newcastle disease outbreak under the Scottish Executive’s policy direction. Under longstanding arrangements the control costs will be met from budgets held by Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on a GB-wide basis.

Animal Welfare

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what concerns it has in respect of the welfare standards of commercially reared game birds and the spread of Newcastle disease when birds are reared in close proximity, in light of the recent cull of partridges in East Lothian following an outbreak of the disease.

Ross Finnie: All birds reared in captivity are subject to minimum standards set out in animal welfare legislation. The recent confirmation of Newcastle disease at Fenton Barns has highlighted the importance of good biosecurity by poultry keepers to minimise the risk of disease incursion and the Scottish Executive continues to work with the poultry industry and other stakeholders to promote best practice in this regard.

Animal Welfare

Mr Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will seek any derogation from EU Regulation 1/2005 on the welfare of farm animals during transport.

Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive intend to derogate from the requirements for vehicles on which animals are transported for between eight and 12 hours:

  requirement to have satellite navigation;

  requirement to have forced ventilation;

  requirement to have temperature and warning systems

  requirement to maintain a vehicle temperature of 0ºC or above when animals are being loaded;

  requirement to have water constantly available for pigs, and

  requirement to have an insulated roof.

Carers

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many providers of unpaid care there are estimated to be in (a) Angus and (b) Aberdeenshire.

Lewis Macdonald: I refer the member to the answer to questions S2W-11759 on 9 November 2004 and S2W-4826 on 8 January 2004 which set out the numbers of unpaid carers for each individual local authority, as identified in the 2001 Census. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Central Heating Programme

Karen Whitefield (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to help people who are currently waiting for central heating systems and Warm Deal measures.

Malcolm Chisholm: To address the continuing high demand for the Executive’s successful central heating and Warm Deal Programmes we are allocating an additional £5 million, between now and the end of this financial year to help an additional 5,000 householders who are currently waiting for central heating installations and Warm Deal measures. This will enable even more people to benefit from these programmes which have made a considerable difference in the lives of thousands.

Culture

Chris Ballance (South of Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-28788 by Patricia Ferguson on 11 October 2006, how many of the celebrations of the birth of the Scottish civil engineer, Thomas Telford, that the Executive is part funding, will take place in his birthplace, Westerkirk, Langholm.

Patricia Ferguson: The anniversary of the birth of Thomas Telford will be marked next year in the Highlands as part of The Highland Promise, the cultural pledge to young people across the Highlands. This activity will form an important part of the programme of events for Scotland’s Year of Highland Culture, which the Executive is helping to fund. The project will focus on the engineering achievements of Thomas Telford (1757-1834) in the Highlands. Telford’s work to open up the Highland landscape to human movement included the construction of the Caledonian Canal, 920 miles of new roads, numerous bridges and 32 new churches, all important components of the built heritage of the Highlands. It will involve schools and landmarks in Ross and Cromarty, Sutherland and Lochaber. The project will have three core elements. The first element is a touring exhibition of material from the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland and items offered by local participants to be displayed in local community venues. The second element is a series of education and outreach activities such as a workshop programme and online learning resources created in part by the young people themselves. The third element comprises two videoconferencing events, in which participants drawn from all the locations in the project will use to share their experiences and showcase the work that they have done.

  The National Galleries and National Libraries are jointly staging a major exhibition of architectural plans, manuscripts, portraits and photographs in the National Portrait Gallery next autumn.

  Though Westerkirk will feature in this joint exhibition, there are no plans for an Executive funded exhibition in Langholm.

Culture

Chris Ballance (South of Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that the celebrations of the birth of Scottish civil engineer, Thomas Telford, should be supported in his birthplace and whether it will support the Telford anniversary group committee in Eskdale and, if so, in what way.

Patricia Ferguson: Throughout history, there have been a great many notable Scots who have made an outstanding contribution to this country and to the world. The various anniversaries have typically been marked by local communities themselves. While the importance of many of these "Great Scots" such as Thomas Telford is acknowledged, it is not possible for the Scottish Executive to support all such commemorative events. The Scottish Executive has not been contacted by the Telford anniversary group committee in Eskdale and there are no plans to provide support to the committee.

Deaf and Hearing Impaired People

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people over the age of 75 it estimates are deaf or hard of hearing.

Lewis Macdonald: The latest report on hearing impairment in adults, produced by the Public Health Institute for Scotland in January 2003, estimates 160 thousand people aged 81 and above have some degree of hearing impairment: that is, 91% of the population aged 81 and above at that time.

Diabetes

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it is spending on the Measure Up awareness campaign on the possible link between waist measurement and a risk of diabetes.

Mr Andy Kerr: Measure Up is a Diabetes UK campaign, supported by an educational grant from sanofi-aventis. The Scottish Executive has not made a financial contribution to the campaign. However, the Executive supports the objectives of the campaign and the Minister for Health and Community Care helped to launch the campaign in Scotland on 12 September 2006.

Diabetes

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of obese adults have been diagnosed as having diabetes, broken down (a) by gender and (b) into age range (i) 16 to 24, (ii) 25 to 34, (iii) 35 to 44, (iv) 45 to 54, (v) 55 to 64, (vi) 65 to 74 and (vii) 75 and over.

Mr Andy Kerr: This information is not held centrally.

Drug Misuse

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (Sol): To ask the Scottish Executive which drug and alcohol action teams (DAAT) have set criteria for the prescription of methadone and what these criteria are for each DAAT.

Hugh Henry: Current guidance for prescribing methadone is based on the document Drug Misuse and Dependence - Guidelines on Clinical Management , issued by the Departments of Health of all 4 countries in the UK in 1999.

  The responsibility for determining the most suitable course of treatment for individual drug users rests with the prescriber taking into account the UK guidelines and any locally published guidelines. It is not for Drug and Alcohol Action Teams to set criteria.

Drug Misuse

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many residential drug rehabilitation places there have been in each year since 1999.

Hugh Henry: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-24528 on 11 April 2006 which set out the number of residential facilities, beds and admissions from 2001-02 to 2004-05 as reported by Alcohol and Drug Action Teams through Corporate Action Plans. The figures include services treating only drug misusers and services providing treatment for both drug and alcohol problems.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Drug Misuse

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many methadone-related deaths there have been in each year since 1990, broken down by local authority area.

George Lyon: The information requested is given in the following table. The increase in numbers observed in 1994 was, at least in part, due to enhanced data collection methods introduced at that time.

  Drug-Related Deaths Involving Methadone, 1990-2005

  

 
 1990
 1991
 1992
 1993
 1994
 1995
 1996
 1997


 Scotland
 11
 9
 21
 23
 55
 58
 100
 86


 Aberdeen City
 -
 -
 1
 1
 2
 4
 8
 3


 Aberdeenshire
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 2
 4


 Angus
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 1
 -
 1


 Argyll and Bute
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 1
 -
 -


 Clackmannanshire
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 Dumfries and Galloway
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 2
 1


 Dundee City
 2
 2
 1
 1
 2
 2
 12
 14


 East Ayrshire
 -
 -
 -
 -
 2
 2
 -
 1


 East Dunbartonshire
 -
 -
 1
 -
 -
 -
 -
 1


 East Lothian
 -
 1
 -
 2
 -
 -
 2
 1


 East Renfrewshire
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 1
 -
 -


 Edinburgh, City of
 9
 3
 13
 11
 17
 14
 33
 24


 Eilean Siar
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 Falkirk
 -
 -
 -
 2
 -
 1
 -
 1


 Fife
 -
 -
 -
 1
 1
 1
 -
 2


 Glasgow City
 -
 1
 1
 3
 14
 21
 25
 16


 Highland
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 Inverclyde
 -
 -
 -
 -
 1
 5
 4
 1


 Midlothian
 -
 -
 -
 -
 2
 -
 2
 1


 Moray
 -
 -
 -
 -
 1
 -
 -
 1


 North Ayrshire
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 1
 -
 1


 North Lanarkshire
 -
 -
 -
 -
 2
 -
 -
 -


 Orkney Islands
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 Perth and Kinross
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 1
 2
 2


 Renfrewshire
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 2
 2
 1


 Scottish Borders
 -
 -
 -
 -
 1
 -
 1
 -


 Shetland Islands
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 South Ayrshire
 -
 -
 -
 -
 4
 -
 1
 1


 South Lanarkshire
 -
 -
 -
 -
 3
 1
 1
 2


 Stirling
 -
 1
 3
 1
 -
 -
 -
 -


 West Dunbartonshire
 -
 -
 1
 -
 1
 -
 2
 2


 West Lothian
 -
 1
 -
 1
 2
 -
 1
 5



  

 
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005


Scotland
64
63
55
69
98
87
80
72


Aberdeen City
4
6
5
8
11
2
1
2


Aberdeenshire
1
1
1
1
-
3
1
1


Angus
1
-
1
1
1
1
3
-


Argyll and Bute
-
1
-
1
3
-
-
-


Clackmannanshire
-
-
-
-
1
-
1
-


Dumfries and Galloway
1
-
1
2
1
1
1
-


Dundee City
2
7
6
10
1
-
3
1


East Ayrshire
1
4
-
2
5
-
-
-


East Dunbartonshire
1
-
-
-
-
1
-
-


East Lothian
-
1
-
1
3
3
-
2


East Renfrewshire
1
1
1
-
2
1
3
-


Edinburgh, City of
18
14
6
9
14
12
2
13


Eilean Siar
-
-
-
-
-
1
-
-


Falkirk
-
-
-
-
-
1
-
2


Fife
2
1
5
4
4
4
1
1


Glasgow City
13
18
13
12
25
37
35
23


Highland
-
1
-
-
-
2
2
3


Inverclyde
1
-
2
3
3
1
2
1


Midlothian
4
1
1
1
1
3
1
2


Moray
-
-
2
-
-
-
-
-


North Ayrshire
-
-
1
-
3
-
2
2


North Lanarkshire
3
1
1
3
4
1
5
7


Orkney Islands
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


Perth and Kinross
6
-
-
1
-
1
1
1


Renfrewshire
2
-
3
-
-
3
4
4


Scottish Borders
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


Shetland Islands
-
-
1
1
-
-
-
-


South Ayrshire
-
-
-
4
-
4
-
3


South Lanarkshire
2
3
1
-
5
3
5
-


Stirling
-
-
-
-
2
-
2
1


West Dunbartonshire
-
-
2
2
5
1
1
1


West Lothian
1
3
2
3
4
1
4
 2

Education

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (Sol): To ask the Scottish Executive how many senior advisers are being appointed to support its "Determined to Succeed" and "Schools of Ambition" strategies.

Nicol Stephen: We hope to appoint two new senior advisers to help with delivery of Determined to Succeed and Schools of Ambition. The new staff will replace two individuals who have now left the Executive.

Education

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (Sol): To ask the Scottish Executive for how long the senior advisers being appointed to support its "Determined to Succeed" and "Schools of Ambition" strategies will be employed.

Nicol Stephen: We plan to offer successful candidates a one year fixed term or secondment opportunity, with the option to extend the position until March 2008.

Education

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (Sol): To ask the Scottish Executive how many support staff will be appointed to assist the senior advisers being appointed to support the Executive’s "Determined to Succeed" and "Schools of Ambition" strategies.

Nicol Stephen: None. The new senior advisers will make use of current administrative support.

Education

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (Sol): To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost will be of any support staff appointed to assist the senior advisers being appointed to support the Executive’s "Determined to Succeed" and "Schools of Ambition" strategies.

Nicol Stephen: We have no plans to recruit additional support staff.

Education

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (Sol): To ask the Scottish Executive what the remit will be of the senior advisers appointed to support its "Determined to Succeed" and "Schools of Ambition" strategies.

Nicol Stephen: The newly appointed Senior Advisers will join an existing team responsible for supporting local authorities in developing and delivering Determined to Succeed (DtS) plans, and providing support to schools engaged in the Schools of Ambition (SoA) programme.

  They will work with authorities and schools to challenge current thinking and approaches, encourage further ambition and increase the pace of change. They will support and guide local authorities and schools in delivering agreed outcomes within their respective plans both for Determined to Succeed and Schools of Ambition, and will help them to evaluate the impact of their work. In addition, the Senior Advisers will help develop and deliver supplementary strategies to add value to the DtS and SoA programmes.

Education

Richard Lochhead (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what level of support was provided for Bookstart in each of the last three years and is projected for each of the next three years, broken down where appropriate by local authority and giving the number of books issued in each case, broken down by age group.

Robert Brown: The Scottish Executive allocated £190,000 to Bookstart in Scotland in 2003-04, £190,000 in 2004-05 and £250,000 in 2005-06. Bookstart in Scotland will receive £500,000 over the next two financial years - £250,000 in 2006-07 and £250,000 in 2007-08. Decisions regarding funding beyond 2007-08 will be a matter for the next spending review. Scottish Executive funding is allocated through a single contact with Bookstart and is not disaggregated by local authority area. This year, 51,830 Bookstart Baby Packs have been ordered by local authorities which is anticipated to provide 96% of babies in Scotland under the age of 12 months with a bag of free books.

Emergency Planning

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what preparations are in place to deal with any act of terrorism in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of a recent survey on the ability of 10 cities in Britain to deal with a terrorist attack which concluded that Glasgow and Edinburgh were among the least prepared, what steps it is taking to address this issue.

Cathy Jamieson: The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 places a duty on key agencies in Scotland to prepare for the continuation of essential services in response to emergencies, including acts of terrorism. The Scottish Emergencies Co-ordinating Committee (SECC) brings together the most senior managers of those agencies, including the Executive, which have a role to play in combating the threat of terrorism not only in Glasgow and Edinburgh but right across the country. A wide range of measures to deal with the consequences of any emergency, including a terrorist attack, are being developed as part of the Scottish Resilience Capabilities Programme. Regular progress reports are made to SECC and the Ministerial Group on Civil Contingencies.

Emergency Planning

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what studies it has undertaken to assess the levels of preparation to deal with any act of terrorism in Scotland.

Cathy Jamieson: The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 places a duty on all key responders to prepare for emergencies. The Executive is working with the eight Regional Scottish Co-ordinating Groups on an on-going basis to assess local threat and risk levels. This information is used to drive the Scottish Resilience Capability Programme, which provides the strategic framework to ensure that Scotland is well placed to deal rapidly, effectively and flexibly with major disruptions, including acts of terrorism.

  In addition, in June, I announced proposals for a consultative review of Scotland’s preparedness to deal with emergency situations, in particular no-notice, simultaneous major emergencies. In the context of assessing overall preparedness, the review will consider the potential for increased collaboration between the emergency services and other responders. The findings of the review will be reported to ministers in summer 2007.

Emergency Planning

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what studies, to which it has been a party, have been undertaken by the UK Government to assess levels of preparation for any act of terrorism in Scotland.

Cathy Jamieson: Scottish Executive ministers and officials are in regular contact with their UK counterparts to share information and discuss the implementation of measures to prepare for acts of terrorism. The Executive is continuously monitoring levels of preparedness through the Scottish Resilience Capabilities Programme, which was developed from the UK Capabilities Programme to reflect devolved responsibilities.

Emergency Planning

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review any decisions in respect of hospital closures in Glasgow, in light of the recent study which ranked Glasgow as one of the least prepared British cities in the event of a terrorist attack.

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the threat of a major terrorist incident will be given specific consideration in any future decisions on hospital reorganisation in Glasgow.

Mr Andy Kerr: I am unaware of the study referred to. The planning for major incidents is a matter for NHS boards. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has a dedicated Emergency Planning Officer in place with the responsibility to co-ordinate a Major Incident Plan with partner agencies including local authorities and neighbouring NHS boards. The plan is regularly updated and is designed to make the best use of local and regional health care facilities.

  NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is confident that the modernisation and reconfiguration of accident and emergency services which will create two dedicated major trauma units, alongside five community casualty units, a children’s accident and emergency unit and three emergency receiving centres will deliver world class emergency care and will offer the flexibility necessary in the event of a major incident.

Europe

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has about (a) why there is no data available for the NUTS 2 Scottish regions in relation to (i) population, (ii) employment in research and development, (iii) information and communication technology patent applications; (iv) biotechnology patent applications, (v) mortality through heart disease, (vi) mortality through accidents and (vii) dentists per 100,000 inhabitants in Eurostat Regions: Statistical yearbook 2006 and (b) whether any of this information is available and, if so, (1) in which categories and (2) why it was not supplied to Eurostat to allow the benchmarking of Scotland against its European competitors.

Mr Tom McCabe: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) coordinate the supply of NUTS level data for each of the UK countries to Eurostat. Some of the data used by Eurostat for their Regions: Statistical Yearbook were not available at the time of publication, although no specific request for data or a related deadline had been made in this context. The response below relates to each of the statistical topics in the question referred to on a case-by-case basis:

  (i) Population: The General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) supply any data requested by ONS for inclusion in UK figures for Eurostat, within any timescale specified. Population data for Scotland are produced on a different basis and by different statistical systems to those for England and Wales. Consequent methodological issues delayed the availability of a consistent UK-wide data set to Eurostat. Data for Scotland could not therefore be used by Eurostat in time for the publication of the Yearbook. Steps are being taken to ensure better liaison between ONS and GROS and to find appropriate methods for producing data that is required by Eurostat on a consistent UK-wide basis.

  (ii) Employment in Research and Development. Data have been made available for the whole of the UK to Eurostat in time for publication. ONS are investigating why it was not included.

  (iii) ICT patent applications. Eurostat calculated the figures for Scotland using an automatic conversion from town/postcodes to NUTS regions. For some regions, the results were very small or even next to zero, and therefore considered as not being significant. Hence some English regions were also marked as data not available. Eurostat plan that the dissemination of very small figures (0.0012 or 0.0128) will, however, be improved later this year.

  (iv) Biotechnology patent applications per million inhabitants. As the required population data were not available to Eurostat in time for inclusion in the Yearbook (see (i) above), it was not possible to provide derived indicators per head of population.

  (v) Mortality through heart disease - male/female ratio aged 0 to 64. As the required population data were not available to Eurostat in time for inclusion in the Yearbook (see (i) above), it was not possible to provide derived indicators per head of population.

  (vi) Mortality through accidents – for men and for women aged 0 to 64. As the required population data were not available to Eurostat in time for inclusion in the Yearbook (see (i) above), it was not possible to provide derived indicators per head of population.

  (vii) Dentists per 100,000 inhabitants. Notwithstanding the problem with populations (see (i) above), area data on dentists were not readily available in a format compatible with the EU’s official (NUTS) statistical geography.

European Funding

Derek Brownlee (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many copies of Future European Structural Funds Programmes in Lowlands and Uplands Scotland 2007-2013 were printed; to whom they were distributed, and what the cost was of (a) design, (b) printing and (c) distribution.

Allan Wilson: The Scottish Executive printed 150 copies of the consultation document on Future European Structural Funds Programmes in Lowlands and Uplands Scotland 2007-2013 . This consultation, and the similar and parallel consultation for the Highlands and Islands, is being conducted almost entirely online. Copies have been produced to distribute to the Scottish Parliament Information Centre and the Scottish Executive Library as required and to distribution to partners and stakeholders on request.

  The total cost of designing and printing the documents for both the Highlands and Islands and Lowlands and Uplands Scotland documents was £6,685.87 excluding VAT. There have been no costs incurred so far in distributing the documents.

European Funding

Derek Brownlee (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many copies of Future European Structural Funds Programmes in Highlands and Islands 2007-2013 were printed; to whom they were distributed, and what the cost was of (a) design, (b) printing and (c) distribution.

Allan Wilson: The Scottish Executive printed 150 copies of the consultation document on Future European Structural Funds Programmes in Highlands and Islands 2007-2013 . This consultation, and the similar and parallel consultation for the Lowlands and Uplands Scotland, is being conducted almost entirely online. Copies have been produced to distribute to the Scottish Parliament Information Centre and the Scottish Executive Library as required and to distribution to partners and stakeholders on request.

  The total cost of designing and printing the documents for both the Highlands and Islands and Lowlands and Uplands Scotland documents was £6,685.87 excluding VAT. There have been no costs incurred so far in distributing the documents.

Fertility Treatment

Shiona Baird (North East Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive when its response to the consultation on Review of Access Criteria for Infertility Services in Scotland is expected to be published.

Lewis Macdonald: We are currently considering responses received to the review. Further areas of work have been identified and are on-going, and we hope to publish a final report and draft recommendations in 2007.

Finance

Derek Brownlee (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive which of its officials the members of the Independent Budget Review Group have met since the submission of the report of that group to ministers, and on which dates these meetings occurred.

Mr Tom McCabe: Finance officials have met with members of the Budget Review Group on four occasions since the submission of the report to ministers. The dates of the meetings were 12 and 23 October and 1 and 7 November.

Fisheries

Richard Lochhead (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many fishermen are employed, and were employed in each of the last 10 years, showing year-on-year percentage changes, also broken down by local authority or nearest alternative geographical area.

Ross Finnie: Information on the numbers of sea fishermen employed by district is published for each year in the statistical bulletin Scottish Sea Fisheries Statistics , copies of which are available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. numbers 40822, 21751, 7712, 8711, 21758, 24413, 29536, 34027, 37595, 40437). The figures are given in table 35 for 1996; table 39 for 1997; table 40 for 1998 to 1999; table 37 for 2000; table 36 for 2001 to 2002, and table 14 for 2003 to 2005.

  The information on year on year percentage changes is given in the following table.

  Year-on-Year Percentage Changes in the Total Number of Fishermen Employed in Scotland, by District

  

 District
 1996-97
 1997-98
 1998-99
 1999-2000
 2000-01
 2001-02
 2002-03
 2003-04
 2004-05


 Eyemouth
 -17.6
 -25.0
 7.0
 0.0
 -14.5
 -27.5
 0.0
 -3.4
 -2.9


 Pittenweem
 1.3
 -16.3
 -9.5
 -9.9
 11.0
 -19.8
 -12.3
 10.9
 0.0


 Arbroath
 -10.3
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 Aberdeen
 3.2
 80.9
 -15.7
 -11.3
 -2.7
 -13.1
 -17.3
 2.6
 3.8


 Peterhead
 -4.6
 -13.9
 35.6
 -26.2
 4.4
 -13.1
 -28.5
 0.7
 -34.5


 Fraserburgh
 10.3
 3.5
 -22.7
 -3.7
 -6.7
 -14.2
 -17.1
 -10.3
 5.4


 Buckie
 -11.7
 -22.3
 -18.1
 2.3
 5.8
 -16.6
 -24.7
 10.6
 -15.4


 Wick
 -1.8
 19.9
 -4.8
 -17.1
 -12.2
 -13.0
 -5.5
 13.2
 -26.6


 Orkney
 -2.0
 -9.2
 -6.3
 9.9
 -8.2
 -4.6
 2.1
 2.1
 -2.3


 Shetland
 36.1
 -12.3
 4.0
 2.2
 -6.1
 -27.6
 6.2
 -2.8
 0.9


 Stornoway
 0.0
 6.8
 -12.4
 -1.6
 4.0
 -25.6
 5.6
 -5.7
 0.8


 Lochinver
 -38.3
 56.0
 0.0
 -21.8
 14.8
 -21.4
 -21.8
 7.0
 -2.2


 Kinlochbervie
 17.9
 -10.9
 -22.0
 3.1
 18.2
 5.1
 0.0
 -2.4
 7.5


 Ullapool
 2.7
 -19.8
 1.1
 -8.5
 2.3
 -5.7
 26.5
 -29.5
 8.1


 Mallaig
 -2.0
 -0.6
 -10.4
 -51.7
 -9.0
 10.9
 -11.2
 -11.6
 1.2


 Oban
 2.2
 -12.2
 0.4
 1.4
 1.1
 4.2
 2.3
 -10.1
 -11.6


 Campbeltown
 -0.3
 -10.2
 5.9
 -18.2
 2.6
 5.1
 -0.6
 0.3
 -1.2


 Ayr
 2.3
 -1.0
 -2.6
 0.5
 -12.6
 -19.2
 -4.5
 28.8
 -13.0


 Portree
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -12.4
 8.7
 12.5
 -18.2
 14.7


 Total
 1.4
 -5.2
 -5.7
 -5.8
 -3.8
 -14.0
 -7.6
 0.0
 -5.8



  Notes:

  1. Arbroath district became part of Aberdeen district during 1998.

  2. Portree district was part of Mallaig district until 2000.

Fisheries

Richard Lochhead (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are employed in the fish processing sector, and were employed in each of the last 10 years, showing year-on-year percentage changes, also broken down by local authority or nearest alternative geographical area.

Ross Finnie: The number of people employed in Scotland in the processing and preserving of fish and fish products over the period 1998-2004 (latest data available) is as follows. Year-on-year changes is shown in brackets.

  

 Year
 Number of People


 1998
 10,216


 1999
 10,506 (+ 2.8%)


 2000
 10,337 (- 1.2%)


 2001
 9,556 (-7.5%)


 2002
 8,817 (-7.7%)


 2003
 9,624 (+8.3%)


 2004
 9,025 (-6.6%)



  It is not possible to provide a breakdown of employment in fish processing by local authority in Scotland due to commercial confidentiality reasons.

  However, internal analysis of the 2003 Annual Business Inquiry data showed that in the case of the processing of both wild caught and farmed fish, the largest concentration of such employment is found in the Annan area, with 17% of all Scottish fish processing jobs in this area. The Fraserburgh and Peterhead travel to work areas (TTWAs) each have more than 1,000 jobs and together account for a further 23% of the processing employment.

  Four other TTWAs (Berwickshire, Aberdeen, Inverness, Motherwell and Lanark) have between 570-800 jobs in fish processing and jointly account for a further 28% of Scottish processing jobs. The neighbouring TTWAS of Newton Stewart (152 jobs) and Kirkcudbright (318 jobs) together account for a further 5% of Scottish processing employment.

Football

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why the estimated completion date for the regional indoor football facility at Westfield Stadium in Falkirk has moved from March 2007 to April 2008 and whether it expects any further delay to the project.

Patricia Ferguson: The start and completion dates for the Westfield Stadium project were based on projections from Falkirk Council which have proved to be unrealistic as the project has progressed. A contributory factor in the delay of this project was due to a delay in obtaining planning consent for the project.

  Sportscotland are concerned about delays in the timescales for the National and Regional Sports Facilities Strategy projects and are in regular discussions with Falkirk Council to try and resolve any problems as they arise.

  Falkirk Council have not raised any concerns about the project during these meetings and I have no reason to expect any further delays with this project.

Further and Higher Education

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many school leavers continued their studies at higher or further education level in the (a) Argyll and Bute and (b) West Dunbartonshire local authority area in each year since 2003-04.

Robert Brown: The information requested is contained in the following table:

  Number and Proportion of School Leavers Entering Full-Time Higher or Further Education

  

 
 2003-04
 2004-05


 Argyll and Bute
 442 (48%)
 491 (47%)


 West Dunbartonshire
 503 (47%)
 646 (52%)



  Information on the destinations of young people leaving school in 2005-06 is due to be published on the 6 December 2006.

Genealogy

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the principal construction contractor going into receivership has had on the ScotlandsPeople project.

George Lyon: The delay in the construction works has had limited impact on current business. One of the main search rooms in New Register House (General Register Office for Scotland) has been unavailable for the period between the receivership of the construction company and the completion of a replacement contract to refurbish that room. Alternative accommodation has been made available. The affected room will re-open this month. The main impact has been to delay the opening of the new ScotlandsPeople centre which, by integrating the premises of the General Register Office for Scotland and the National Archives of Scotland, will give much improved services to family historians.

Genealogy

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when construction works for the ScotlandsPeople centre are likely to be completed

George Lyon: The aim is for the ScotlandsPeople centre to open in autumn 2007, but this is subject to the detailed construction plan from the new contractor which has yet to be delivered and agreed.

Genealogy

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the extra cost to the ScotlandsPeople project has been of the principal construction contractor going into receivership.

George Lyon: The additional cost is currently estimated to be around £1.1 million (although there are on-going negotiations with the receiver over a number of issues, including the ownership of materials currently on site). This sum comprises mainly the cost of works necessary to make the site safe and bring key public areas back into operation; the set up costs for the new contractor taking over partially completed works, and additional professional fees, including legal fees associated with the receivership.

Genealogy

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what impact delays in the ScotlandsPeople construction works has had on (a) visitor numbers, (b) visitor access to the records and (c) staff recruitment efforts.

George Lyon: There has not been a noticeable decrease in the number of visitors. No records have been removed from access and the impact on visitors to the records has been limited by the use of a temporary search room to replace all but 10 of the places lost with the closure of one of the main search rooms in New Register House. The ScotlandsPeople centre will be staffed almost entirely by those with similar duties who already work for the General Register Office for Scotland and the National Archives of Scotland, so recruitment has been unaffected.

Graduates

Ms Maureen Watt (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give a commitment not to reduce places for physiotherapy students in response to unemployment levels among physiotherapy graduates.

Nicol Stephen: Places for physiotherapy students at Scottish universities are not controlled by the Scottish Executive. It is for universities themselves to decide on their intake within their allocation of places by the Scottish Funding Council.

Health

Mike Pringle (Edinburgh South) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what support it is giving to sufferers of cyclical vomiting syndrome.

Lewis Macdonald: I understand that this syndrome is rare and sometimes hard to diagnose. But, once diagnosed, it is the responsibility of NHS boards to ensure that parents and their families are made aware of the support organisations available to them.

Health

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the percentage of singleton low birth weight babies has been of all births in each three-year period since 1996-98, also broken down by NHS board.

Lewis Macdonald: Please find the information requested in the following table:

  Percentage of Singleton Low Birth Weight Babies Year Ending 31 March

  

 
 1997-99
 2000-02
 2003-05


 Scotland
 5.7
 5.9
 6.0


 Argyll and Clyde
 5.9
 6.5
 6.7


 Ayrshire and Arran
 5.4
 6.1
 6.1


 Borders
 5.1
 4.8
 5.0


 Dumfries and Galloway
 5.0
 5.6
 5.0


 Fife
 5.5
 5.3
 6.0


 Forth Valley
 5.5
 5.8
 6.0


 Grampian
 5.1
 5.3
 5.5


 Greater Glasgow
 7.0
 6.8
 7.0


 Highland
 4.6
 5.3
 5.6


 Lanarkshire
 5.9
 5.7
 5.4


 Lothian
 5.4
 5.7
 6.0


 Orkney
 2.1
 3.6
 4.1


 Shetland
 3.6
 3.6
 3.2


 Tayside
 5.4
 5.4
 5.6


 Western Isles
 2.6
 5.0
 4.8

Health

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-28879 by Lewis Macdonald on 1 November 2006, whether it will publish a list of the professions involved in preparation of the risk management plan in relation to the care of restricted patient, Mark Biggley.

Lewis Macdonald: The risk management plan was prepared in conjunction with the multidisciplinary team and those involved include the responsible medical officer, the psychologist, nursing staff and the social worker.

Health

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-28880 by Lewis Macdonald on 1 November 2006, why Strathclyde Police was not involved in determining the risk in granting restricted patient, Mark Biggley, unsupervised leave within the grounds of Ailsa Hospital, given that he had previously absconded.

Lewis Macdonald: The police are not routinely consulted about unsupervised leave within the grounds of the hospital. Responsible medical officers consider on a case by case basis when to involve the police in decisions in relation to patient care and supervision. In this case the responsible medical officer decided that the involvement of the police was not necessary in relation to ground parole.

Health

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, when determining unescorted leave by restricted patients, how risk to the public is measured by multi-disciplinary teams that do not include the police.

Lewis Macdonald: Multi-disciplinary teams will consider static and dynamic factors relating to risk and will routinely include information provided to them by the police and Crown Office before meeting. Unescorted leave from hospital requires the consent of Scottish ministers and the views of the police are routinely sought prior to unescorted leave being granted.

  In respect of the recent case of the abscond from hospital the patient was on unescorted ground parole which does not require the consent of Scottish ministers, and does not routinely involve consulting the police.

Housing

Mr Bruce McFee (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many housing developments have been undertaken on regeneration sites since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Malcolm Chisholm: Such data are not collected centrally: there is no official statistical definition of "regeneration sites". However, housing statistics show that about 50 per cent of new housing in Scotland is currently being built on brownfield sites.

Justice

Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases have been referred to the appeal court in each of the last five years as a result of new or newly discovered facts that show, beyond reasonable doubt, that there has been a miscarriage of justice.

Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases have been referred to the appeal court in each of the last five years as a result of a wrongful conviction or charge arising from serious default on the part of a member of a police force or some other public authority.

Cathy Jamieson: In Scotland the test for the court to consider in any appeal against conviction and/or sentence in both summary and solemn proceedings is whether there has been a miscarriage of justice. Data held on appeals cannot provide statistics in the requested format. Grounds of appeal may be amended before the appeal is heard, and an appeal may be successful on certain grounds but not on others.

  In addition to the usual appeal process open to all convicted persons, the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission can also refer cases to the appeal court, following applications made to the commission and normally only after the appeal process has been exhausted, where it is believed that a miscarriage of justice may have occurred and that it is in the interests of justice to do so. Additionally, once the case has been referred by the commission, it is for the appellant to formulate his grounds of appeal, which are not restricted to the grounds for referral. It is for the Appeal Court to rule upon which grounds of appeal, if any, the appeal should succeed, and this information may be available from any written judgement issued on the appeal.

  Since its establishment in 1999 the commission has received 843 cases and concluded consideration of some 777 applications for review of conviction and/or sentence. 62 of these applications have been referred to the High Court for review, including 26 for sentence only, and 37 of these referrals have been considered by the court with successful appeals for 24 cases. The number of cases referred by the commission on an annual basis is:

  

1999-2000
2


2000-01
7


2001-02
8


2002-03
12


2003-04
5


2004-05
13


2005-06
10


2006-07 (to date)
5

Non-Departmental Public Bodies

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many full-time staff have been employed, and at what financial cost, in administering health quangos, broken down by (a) body and (b) year since 1999.

Mr Andy Kerr: Available information on the number of full-time staff employed by area and special NHS boards is published by staff group in table G3 in the Workforce section of the ISDScotland website ( www.isdscotland.org/workforce ). It is not, however, possible to separately identify how many staff are engaged in direct administration of those organisations.

  Staffing information is not held centrally for the other health non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs): the Mental Welfare Commission; the Mental Health Tribunal, and the Care Commission. Limited information about staffing and costs is, however, available in the annual reports of those organisations and on the Scotland’s Public Bodies website:

  www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/public-bodies/Introduction2.

  Area and special NHS boards’ expenditure on administration costs can be found in note 6 of individual NHS boards’ published annual accounts for each year. NHS Boards’ annual accounts are laid before the Scottish Parliament, and copies will be available through the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.

  The specific costs associated with full-time staff employed by NDPBs in administration of those organisations is not available.

People with Disabilities

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of its jobs, including those funded by it, are occupied by people with a disability or disabilities.

Mr Tom McCabe: At 1 October 2006, 6% of staff in the employment of the Executive, its agencies and associated departments had declared themselves as disabled.

  This figure covers permanent staff in the Scottish administration and excludes the Scottish Prison Service, Historic Scotland, Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, Scottish Court Service, Registers of Scotland and Communities Scotland (prior to 2004). It is given as a percentage of known responses.

  The current percentage of unknown responses is 32.8% and work is currently being undertaken to address this. The figure as a percentage of all staff is 4%.

  The monitoring of staff in other posts funded by the Executive would be a matter for each individual employing organisation.

People with Disabilities

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of applications for its jobs, including those funded by it, were submitted by people with a disability or disabilities in each of the last five years.

Mr Tom McCabe: The following percentages of applications for posts with the Scottish Executive were received from disabled candidates:

  

 Year (April to March)
 Percentage of Disabled Applicants


 2002-03
 3.1%


 2003-04 
 3.7%


 2004-05 
 4.0%


 2005-06 
 3.6%


 2006 to date 
 3.6%



  Monitoring of applications for other posts funded by the Executive is a matter for each individual organisation.

People with Disabilities

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the total workforce has a disability or disabilities, broken down by (a) public and (b) private sector.

Mr Tom McCabe: The following table contains data on the proportion of people working in the public and private sector who report having a disability. These data are taken from the Annual Population Survey (APS). It should be noted that the APS is not the official source for public sector employment and over estimates the number of people working in the public sector.

  The official data on the number of people who are employed in the public and private sectors in Scotland are published in the Quarterly Public Sector Employment in Scotland series. However, this publication does not have information on disability. The latest version of this publication can be found at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/09/12102423/0.

  Table 1 Proportion of People with a Disability by Public and Private Sector, 2005

  

 
 Public Sector
 Private Sector
 Total


 Both DDA (current disability) and work limiting disability
 5.0%
 5.0%
 5.0%


 DDA disabled (current disability) only
 5.2%
 4.5%
 4.7%


 work limiting disability only
 2.3%
 3.0%
 2.8%


 Total with a disability
 12.5%
 12.5%
 12.5%



  Source: Annual Population Survey 2005.

People with Disabilities

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many disabled adults there are in (a) Dundee and (b) Angus, also expressed as a percentage of the local adult population they comprise.

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many disabled adults there are in (a) Dundee and (b) Angus, broken down by age-range and also expressed as a percentage of the local adult population.

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many disabled adults there are in (a) Dundee and (b) Angus, broken down by gender.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Household Survey for 2003-05 shows that 11% of adults in Dundee and 11% of adults in Angus consider themselves to be disabled. This implies that around 9,500 adults in Angus and 12,500 adults in Dundee are disabled. The sample size for the survey does not allow for reliable estimates of age and gender of disabled adults to be produced for the Dundee and Angus areas.

Prison Service

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is taking steps to increase the availability of prisoner places, in light of an anticipated rise in numbers of prisoners.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  Yes.

  A new 700 place prison has been contracted for at Addiewell, West Lothian and will come into use at the end of 2008.

  Subject to planning permission being given, a new 700 place prison will be contracted for at Low Moss.

  The SPS is also investing more than £1.5 million a week on upgrading and expanding the prison estate at HM Prison and Young Offenders Institute Cornton Vale, HM Prison Edinburgh, HM Prison Glenochil, the SPS Open Estate, HM Prison Perth and HM Young Offenders Institute Polmont.

Public Expenditure

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much was spent by each of its (a) departments, (b) agencies and (c) non-departmental public bodies in respect of hotel and other privately-provided accommodation (i) in Scotland, (ii) in the United Kingdom and (iii) abroad for (1) ministers, (2) staff and (3) other persons in each year since 2001-02.

Mr Tom McCabe: The information we hold centrally cannot be broken down to provide all the information requested (other than at disproportionate cost). The following table provides details of the expenditure on motor mileage and subsistence for the departments and agencies that use the Scottish Executive Accounting System. The figures therefore include, in addition to accommodation, expenditure on meals, day subsistence, personal incidental allowances, detached duties, certain permanent transfer expenses and motor mileage. I am unable to provide a breakdown of expenditure by location, type of accommodation or by category of personnel.

  We regard it as crucial that staff and ministers get out and about in the course of their work to meet stakeholders and the general public and these expenses were all incurred in that context. The basis for allowable expenses is clearly set down and cases are rigorously authorised.

  

 Department/Agency
 2001-02
 2002-03
 2003-04
 2004-05
 2005-06


 Corporate Services
£642,040
£439,807
£398,388
£388,471
£384,434


 Development Department
£181,363
£117,640
£66,505
£109,476
£122,682


 Education Department
£187,997
£209,598
£226,461
£230,593
£207,539


 Finance and Central Services Department
£183,295
£223,530
£180,532
£160,991
£379,253


 ETLLD
£99,394
£85,093
£136,230
£142,064
£140,641


 ERAD
£1,372,765
£884,302
£944,757
£911,332
£941,712


 Health Department
£110,598
£131,698
£97,381
£116,556
£104,651


 Justice Department
£138,891
£139,929
£179,372
£161,174
£169,308


 Total Departments
£2,916,343
£2,231,597
£2,229,626
£2,220,657
£2,450,220


 Accountant in Bankruptcy
 -
£9,974
£6,772
£30,513
£43,895


 Communities Scotland
 -
 -
£73,356
£134,452
£174,449


 Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal 
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 Historic Scotland
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 HM Fire Service Inspectorate
 Included
 within
 Justice
 Figures
 -



  

Department/Agency
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06


HM Inspectorate of Constabulary
Included
within
Justice
Figures
-


HM Inspectorate of Education
£442,011
£382,642
-
-
-


HM Prisons Inspectorate for Scotland
Included
within
Justice
Figures
-


Mental Health Tribunal
-
-
-
-
£48,367


National Archives of Scotland
£2,385
£12,397
£13,067
£9,725
£10,652


Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator
-
-
-
£15,904
£14,512


Registers of Scotland
-
-
-
-
-


Scottish Agricultural Science Agency
£38,657
£62,455
£44,224
£47,759
£46,154


Scottish Building Standards Agency
-
-
-
£6,257
£9,709


Scottish Court Service
£448,421
£462,651
£570,912
£530,439
£627,495


Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency
£189,092
£197,870
£220,223
£189,017
£273,685


Scottish Prison Service
-
-
-
-
-


Scottish Public Pensions Agency
£18,036
£65,857
£71,455
£43,396
£51,665


Social Work Inspection Agency
-
-
-
-
£15,204


Student Awards Agency for Scotland
£2,379
£4,774
£6,686
£7,350
£8,783


Transport Scotland
-
-
-
-
-


Fisheries Research Services
£437,939
£378,691
£435,691
£419,673
£378,054


General Registers of Scotland
£25,257
£34,728
£53,450
£46,534
£98,425

Public Private Partnerships

Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the PFI/PPP projects contracted in each region, showing for each the (a) cost to public funds over the lifetime of the projects, (b) PFI/PPP contractors and (c) consultants employed as advisors to the public sector.

Mr Tom McCabe: For (a) I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-28685 on 18 October 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

  For (b) I refer the member to the following table which provides main contractors for PPP projects that are either operational or have reached financial close. Details of sub-contractors are not held centrally.

  For (c) I refer the member to the Scottish Executive Financial Partnerships Unit website where the information can be found at www.scotland.gov.uk/ppp.

  

 Project Name
 Contractors


 Local Authorities
 


 Schools


 Balfron 
 Jarvis Construction UK
 Jarvis plc (FM)
 Jarvis Workspace FM
 


 East Renfrewshire 
 Jarvis Construction UK
 Jarvis plc (FM)
 Jarvis Workspace FM
 


 Glasgow 
 Amey Ltd
 Millers
 
 


 Falkirk
 Ballast Wiltshire plc - Design and Build
 Wiltshire Facilities Management Limited - Soft FM
 WS Atkins - Hard FM
 Compass Services UK Limited - Hard FM


 Olscot Limited (part of Mitie Group) - Hard FM
 
 
 


 Fife 
 Robert McAlpine
 Sodexho Alliance
 
 


 Highland 
 Mitie FM
 MJ Gleeson Group plc
 
 


 West Lothian 
 Anglian Water Group
 Morrison Construction Group plc
 
 


 Aberdeenshire 
 Robertson Construction Ltd
 Robertson Facilities Management Ltd 
 
 


 Edinburgh 
 Millers
 
 
 


 Midlothian 
 HBG Construction Scotland Ltd
 HBG Facilities Management Ltd
 HBG Projects Ltd
 


 East Lothian 
 Balfour Beatty
 Forth Electrical Supplies
 
 


 Aberdeenshire PPP2
 Robertson Construction (Eastern) Ltd
 Robertson Construction (Northern) Ltd
 Robertson Facilities Management Ltd
 


 East Renfrewshire PPP2
 HBG Construction Scotland Ltd
 HBG Facilities Management Ltd
 HBG Projects Ltd
 


 Renfrewshire 
 Amey Ltd
 Carillion Construction
 
 


 North Lanarkshire 
 Balfour Beatty
 Balfour Kilpatrick
 Haden Building Management Ltd
 


 Argyll and Bute 
 Barr Construction
 Mansell Construction
 Mitie
 


 Fife PPP2
 FES FM Ltd
 Miller Construction (UK) Ltd
 
 


 East Ayrshire 
 Hochtief PPP Solutions (UK) Ltd 
 Mitie PFI Ltd
 
 


 Highland PPP2
 Morrison Construction
 
 
 


 Midlothian PPP2
 Skanska BOT
 Skanska Rashleigh Weatherfoil Ltd
 
 


 North Ayrshire 
 Hochtief PPP Solutions (UK) Ltd 
 
 
 


 South Lanarkshire 
 AMEC Construction
 AMEC Facilities Management
 AMEC Project Investments Ltd
 


 Stirling 
 A and L King Ltd
 FES (Forth and Oban) Ltd
 Ogilvie Construction Ltd
 


 IT


 Moray Council - Integrated Education Management Service
 ICL
 
 
 


 Highland Council - IS/IT Services 
 CFM
 ICL
 
 


 Waste
 
 
 
 


 Argyll and Bute Waste Management
 Shanks Waste Services Ltd
 
 
 


 Baldovie Waste to Energy Plant 
 Balfour Beatty
 Kvaerner Enviropower AV
 
 


 Dumfries and Galloway Waste Management
 Shanks Waste Services Limited - Design and Build
 Shanks Waste Services Limited - Hard FM
 Sistema Ecodeco
 


 Roads


 Angus A92 Road Upgrading
 Miller Construction (UK) Ltd
 
 
 


 Other
 
 
 
 


 Perth and Kinross Council Office Accommodation 
 AWG
 
 
 


 Water and Sewerage


 Inverness Main Drainage/Fort William Sewage Treatment 
 Anglian Water Group Project Investments Ltd
 Bechtel Enterprises Ltd
 United Utilities Ltd
 


 Tay Waste Water Project
 Bechtel Enterprises Ltd
 United Utilities Ltd
 
 


 Aberdeen sewage and sludge treatment 
 BICC plc
 Earthtech Engineering
 Yorkshire Water
 


 Moray Coast Waste Water Project
 Bechtel Enterprises Ltd
 Morrison Construction Ltd
 
 


 Almond Valley, Esk Valley and Seafield Sewage Scheme
 International Services Holdings
 MJ Gleeson Group plc
 Montgomery Watson Enterprises Ltd
 Thames Water


 Levenmouth Purification Scheme
 AMEC
 Degremont
 Northumbrian Water
 


 Dalmuir Sewage Treatment
 Barr Construction
 Saur (UK)
 Stereau
 Taylor Woodrow Construction


 Daldowie/Shieldhall Sludge Treatment Centres 
 Millers
 Scottish Power
 
 


 Meadowhead Sewage Treatment 
 AMEC
 Degremont
 Northumbrian Water
 


 Further and Higher Education


 Stirling college
 MJ Gleeson Group plc
 Reiach and Hall
 Canmore Partnership Limited
 


 West Lothian college
 HBG Projects Ltd
 
 
 


 North Ayrshire college
 Melville Douglas
 
 
 


 Health¹


 NHS Dumfries and Galloway – Day care and Maternity Unit
 Dumfries Facilities
 
 
 


 NHS Highland -Easter Ross County Community Hospital
 Robertson Facilities Management Ltd
 Robertson Group (Construction) Ltd
 
 


 NHS Lanarkshire - HIS (Lanarkshire)
 
 
 
 


 NHS Lanarkshire - Cumbernauld (60 bed)
 
 
 
 


 NHS Lanarkshire - Patient Management System 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Lanarkshire - Bellshill 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Lanarkshire - Cumbernauld
 Four Seasons
 
 
 


 NHS Lanarkshire – Stonehouse Hospital
 Dawn Construction Ltd
 Mackenzie Partnership
 FES (Forth Electrical Services)
 Keppie


 NHS Lanarkshire – Hairmyres Hospital
 ISS Mediclean Ltd
 Prospect Healthcare (Hairmyres) Ltd
 
 


 NHS Lanarkshire – Wishaw Hospital
 BLB
 Scottish Hydro Electric
 Summit Healthcare (Wishaw) Ltd
 AMBAC


 NHS Lothian - Energy Management System
 
 
 
 


 NHS Lothian and Forth Valley - Clinical Waste Disposal
 
 
 
 


 NHS Lothian - CT and MRI scanning system
 
 
 
 


 NHS Northern Trusts - Clinical Waste Disposal (Northern)
 
 
 
 


 NHS Lothian - Ferryfield House
 Gardner Merchant (FM)
 James Walker (Leith) Ltd
 
 


 NHS Lothian - Ellen’s Glen House
 Gardner Merchant (FM)
 James Walker (Leith) Ltd
 
 


 NHS Lothian - Findlay House
 Robertson Group
 
 
 


 NHS Lothian – New Royal Infirmary Edinburgh
 Balfour Beatty
 Initial Healthcare
 Morrison Construction Group plc
 


 NHS Lothian - HIS
 
 
 
 


 NHS Lothian - PACS
 
 
 
 


 NHS Lothian - Tippethill
 Care UK 
 Melville Douglas
 
 


 NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde - Ruchill 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde - Shettleston 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde - Rutherglen
 
 
 
 


 NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde - Darnley
 Associated Nursing Services
 
 
 


 NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde - Car Parking Facilities
 Impreglio (Newcross) Ltd
 Impreglio Parking (Glasgow) Ltd
 
 


 NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde - Mearnskirk
 Walker Timber
 
 
 


 NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde - Geriatric Medicine and Assessment
 Carillion
 
 
 


 NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde – South Glasgow Hospital HIS
 
 
 
 


 NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde - Yorkhill HIS
 
 
 
 


 NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde - Gartnaval Royal Hospital
 Robertson Facilities Management Ltd
 Robertson Group (Construction) Ltd
 
 


 NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde - Stobhill and Victoria ACADs
 Balfour Beatty 
 United Medical Enterprises
 Canmore
 


 NHS Tayside - Car parking facilities (Ninewells) 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Tayside - Energy Management System 
 Scottish and Southern Energy
 
 
 


 NHS Tayside - HIS (Perth)
 
 
 
 


 NHS Tayside - X-ray dept 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Tayside - Carseview
 Jarvis Construction UK
 Jarvis Workspace FM
 
 


 NHS Tayside – Forfar
 Robertson Health (Forfar) Holdings Ltd
 
 
 


 NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde – Larkfield
 Crestacare
 Melville Dundas
 
 


 NHS Ayshire and Arran – Crosshouse
 Dawn Construction Ltd
 Kilmarnock Healthcare Partnership and Ayrshire Hospitals Ltd
 Canmore
 FES Limited


 Mackenzie Partnership
 
 
 


 NHS Ayrshire and Arran - East Ayrshire Community Hospital Cumnock 
 HBG Construction Scotland Ltd
 HBG Facilities Management Ltd
 
 


 NHS Ayrshire and Arran - Irvine
 
 
 
 


 NHS Ayrshire and Arran - Saltcoats
 
 
 
 


 NHS Highland - New Craigs Hospital
 AMEC
 Donald Makitlop Associates (Architects)
 Peter Frankel and Partners Engineering
 Robertson Facilities Management


 NHS Grampian Kincardine Community Hospital
 BLB
 Community Health Services Ltd
 Grampian Healthcare
 Millers


 NHS Highland – Mid Argyll Community Hospital
 Balfour Beatty
 BBCL
 D and B Contractor
 HLM Design


 Operis Business Engineering Ltd
 Oscar Faber and WS Atkins
 Parsons Brinckerhoff
 Capita


 NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde - Stobhill Forensic Unit
 Balfour Beatty
 Parsons Brinckerhoff
 United Medical Enterprises
 Canmore


 Justice 


 Kilmarnock Prison
 Kvaerner Construction Ltd
 Premier Prison Services Ltd
 
 


 Addiewell Prison
 Interserve
 Sodexho
 
 


 SCRO Part V Disclosure Service
 British Telecom 
 
 
 


 National Roads and Transport


 M6 DBFO
 Amey Ltd
 Barr Construction
 Sir Robert McAlpine PFI Ltd
 Taylor Woodrow Construction


 M77/Glasgow Southern Orbital Road (SE/East Renfrewshire) 
 Balfour Beatty
 Connect Road Operators Ltd
 
 


 Social Work
 
 
 
 


 SCRA - Integrated Information System 
 Logica
 
 
 


 Other


 Police Force Training Centre, East Kilbride
 Balfour Beatty
 Rentokil
 
 


 Visitscotland.com
 Area Tourist Boards
 Schulmberger sema
 Visitscotland
 



  Note: 1. Information on contractors is not held for some of the health projects as it has not been provided by the health bodies

Public Private Partnerships

Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the PFI/PPP projects currently under negotiation or contract bidding, showing for each the (a) potential public funding costs and (b) consultants being employed as advisors to the public sector.

Mr Tom McCabe: With reference to (a), the potential public funding costs for those PFI/PPP projects currently under negotiation or contract bidding are commercially confidential whilst the projects are in the procurement stage.

  For (b) I refer the member to the Scottish Executive Financial Partnerships Unit’s website where the information can be found at www.scotland.gov.uk/ppp.

Public Private Partnerships

Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive what its total costs have been of employing consultants as advisors to the public sector in PFI/PPP completed projects in each year from 1999 to 2005.

Mr Tom McCabe: The total costs to the Scottish Executive of employing consultants as advisers to the public sector in PFI/PPP completed projects in each year from 1999 to 2005 is estimated in the following table. The increasing values over these years reflects the increased investment value of PFI/PPP procurements, especially in the schools sector. The figure for 2004 includes consultants costs associated with the buy-out of Skye Bridge.

  

 Year
 Amount (£)


 1999
 Nil


 2000
 Nil


 2001
 315,000


 2002
 230,094


 2003
 276,396


 2004
 751,765


 2005
 339,371



  The figures in the table comprise costs incurred by the Scottish Executive in employing consultants as advisers for its own PFI/PPP projects, and for those health and local authority projects where the Scottish Executive has incurred direct costs. These costs include the carrying out of Key Stage Reviews by Partnerships UK, contract work by legal firms, and development and support costs for specific completed projects such as the non-profit distributing organisation model in Argyll and Bute Council’s schools project.

Public Private Partnerships

Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it can reveal within the constraints of commercial confidentiality regarding the financial arrangements between it and PFI/PPP contractors and consultants which it employs to advise it on PFI/PPP projects.

Mr Tom McCabe: The financial arrangements between the Scottish Executive and PFI/PPP contractors and consultants employed to advise on PFI/PPP projects are set out in contracts between the relevant parties.

  For the four Scottish Executive PFI/PPP projects, the body of the project agreement for the M6 DBFO is to be made available on the Scottish Executive’s Publication Scheme at www.scotland.gov.uk within a month; the tender documents for the M77/GSO are included in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 36425); the contract for Kilmarnock Prison is available from Scottish Prison Service’s website at www.sps.gov.uk/Default.asp?menuid=231, and the contract for Addiewell Prison is not yet publicly available.

  Individual contracts between the Scottish Executive and consultants which it employs to advise it on PFI/PPP projects are not readily available. The Scottish Executive negotiates call-off contracts, framework contracts, framework agreements/arrangements for certain services, and financial advisory services for PFI/PPP projects is included in this. Further information is available from the Scottish Executive’s website at:

  www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/Procurement/Selling/CollaborativeContracts.

  Contracts, whether for contractors or consultants, over a certain financial threshold are subject to EU procurement rules.

Public Private Partnerships

Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list any PFI/PPP projects where the consultants employed to advise it have sought enhanced payments above the original contracted figure, showing the (a) original contract price and (b) enhanced payments sought in each project and indicating whether the requests for additional payments have been agreed or refused.

Mr Tom McCabe: Since 1999, I am not aware of any enhanced payments above the original contracted figure being sought by consultants employed to advise the Scottish Executive in relation to its PFI/PPP projects.

  The Scottish Executive does not hold details of payments to consultants employed to advise other public sector procuring bodies undertaking PFI/PPP projects.

Public Private Partnerships

Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria it employs when assessing (a) value for money and (b) allocation of risk between the public and private partners in PFI/PPP projects and whether there has been any change in the assessment criteria since the inception of the policy on PFI/PPP projects.

Mr Tom McCabe: Value for Money (VfM) Assessment Guidance is available on the Scottish Executive Financial Partnership Unit’s website at:

  www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/Finance/18232/vfm.

  This is revised guidance since the inception of the policy on PFI/PPP projects and applies from September 2005. The treatment of risk is an integral part of assessing VfM in all assessments of private finance schemes.

Public Private Partnerships

Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the PFI/PPP contracts in which arbitration by Partnerships UK has been used and what the outcome has been in each case.

Mr Tom McCabe: Partnerships UK has never been appointed as an arbitrator or adjudicator in Scotland.

Public Private Partnerships

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many PPP contracts were awarded in 2005-06, broken down by local authority area.

Mr Tom McCabe: The information requested is provided in the following table:

  

 Procuring Body
 PPP Project
 Date of Financial Close


 Fife Council
 schools
 December 2005


 Highland Council
 schools
 March 2006


 North Ayrshire Council
 schools
 March 2006


 North Lanarkshire Council
 schools
 June 2005


 NHS Greater Glasgow
 Gartnavel Royal Psychiatric Hospital
 November 2005


 NHS Greater Glasgow
 Stobhill Local Forensic Psychiatric Unit
 July 2005

Public Private Partnerships

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many non-profit distributing organisation PPP contracts were awarded in 2005-06, broken down by local authority area.

Mr Tom McCabe: One non-profit distributing organisation contract reached financial close in 2005-06. This was Argyll and Bute Council’s schools project.

Public Private Partnerships

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken in promoting the non-profit distributing organisation (NPDO) model of PPP.

Mr Tom McCabe: Information about the non-profit distributing model has been provided to interested authorities, professional advisers and the market and is available from the Scottish Executive Financial Partnerships Unit’s website at www.scotland.gov.uk/ppp . Information about the model has also been presented at seminars and conferences on PPP.

  An NPDO club has been established by the Financial Partnerships Unit to assist those other local authorities adopting the model. This has met several times and includes representatives from Aberdeen City and Falkirk Councils for their schools projects, their advisers, and Partnerships UK.

Queen’s Speech

Scott Barrie (Dunfermline West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what legislative consent motions it will lodge in the Parliament in connection with the legislative programme of the UK Government that will be announced in the Queen’s Speech on 15 November 2006.

Ms Margaret Curran: Under the Sewel Convention, the UK Government does not normally legislate with regard to devolved matters in Scotland without the consent of the Scottish Parliament. This is an important part of the devolution settlement, signifying respect for the role of the Scottish Parliament.

  The Scottish Parliament has recently indicated the value of legislating under the Sewel Convention by establishing procedures in its Standing Orders for the Parliament to scrutinise proposed Legislative Consent Motions. These procedures ensure that the Parliament plays a full role in legislation in areas entrusted to this Parliament in the devolution settlement.

  Within the UK Government’s new legislative programme announced today, the Executive has identified and agreed a number of specific opportunities to legislate for the benefit of Scotland on matters that are within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament and on matters which relate to the executive competence of the Scottish ministers.

  The bills are:

  Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress – to give Scottish consumers the benefit of a new statutory National Consumers Council, including food safety matters.

  Education and Training – to allow Scottish students the benefit of UK-wide schemes on information sharing and career development loans, and to modernise industrial training levy legislation.

  Statistics and Registration Services – to include Scotland in national standards and scrutiny for government statistics.

  Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement – to establish a UK-wide reserved Tribunal Service modernising the structure and process of decisions made by such tribunals and to make provision to safeguard from seizure cultural artefacts on loan to Scottish museums and galleries.

  The Executive will be bringing forward memorandums and Legislative Consent Motions for these bills over the next few weeks, in line with the requirements of Standing Orders. It will be for the Scottish Parliament then to determine whether to give or withhold consent.

  Further opportunities to legislate for the benefit of Scotland may well develop in other bills announced today as their content is finalised. We will continue to work with the UK Government and will bring to the attention of the Parliament any such opportunities as soon as they are identified.

Regional Selective Assistance

Shiona Baird (North East Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what conditions in respect of the sustainability of raw materials have been attached to the grant of £9 million to the INEOS Enterprises biofuels plant in Grangemouth, in particular whether the Regional Selective Assistance from the Executive prohibits the company from using palm oil from south-east Asia.

Allan Wilson: I understand that it is the company’s intention to use rape seed oil supplemented with soya oil for its raw materials but this is not a specific condition of grant (Regional Selective Assistance – RSA) support. RSA is available to support business investment to create or safeguard jobs in assisted areas. Formal grant contracts incorporate conditions mainly in relation to employment and investment targets. There are no conditions attached to RSA grant agreements restricting or prohibiting companies with regards to the sourcing of raw materials. Market comments and advice are sought on each grant application and, with regard to wider issues, businesses are of course required to operate in accordance within all regulatory and legal frameworks.

Roads

Murray Tosh (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, following the announcement by the Minister for Transport, during the debate on the Elgin Bypass on 21 September 2006, that a liaison officer with specific responsibility for Elgin and Moray has been appointed by Transport Scotland ( Official Report , c. 27876), whether it will publish the names and contact details of all trunk road liaison officers in Scotland.

Murray Tosh (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, following the announcement by the Minister for Transport, during the debate on the Elgin Bypass on 21 September 2006, that a liaison officer with specific responsibility for Elgin and Moray has been appointed by Transport Scotland ( Official Report , c. 27876), whether it will publish the names and contact details of all liaison officers in Transport Scotland, giving details of the local authority areas or trunk road corridors for which they are responsible.

Tavish Scott: The issues raised by Moray Council in relation to Elgin involved a number of officials from within Transport Scotland. To ensure good lines of communication between the Council and Transport Scotland, a single official in Transport Scotland was identified to act as liaison officer. That official is the Trunk Road Area Manager with responsibility for the A96 trunk road. Trunk Road Area Managers often act as the main contact point between councils and Transport Scotland.

  The trunk road operating companies are the main points of contact with councils and members of the public about trunk road operational issues.

  The operating companies are:

  North West – Scotland Transerv (01738 455300)

  North East – Bear (01738 448600)

  South East – Amey (0131 660 8100)

  South West – Amey (0141 781 6900).

  A national telephone defect reporting number is also available on 0800 0281414.

  A map showing the areas and trunk roads covered by the operating companies is available on the Transport Scotland website at www.transportscotland.gov.uk.

  Transport Scotland has operational responsibility for this area and can be contacted for more information as required.

Schools

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding has been allocated to rebuilding and refurbishing schools in the (a) Argyll and Bute and (b) West Dunbartonshire local authority area in each year since 1999 and how the money has been used.

Robert Brown: The Scottish Executive’s Schools Fund capital grant allocations to Argyll and Bute and to West Dunbartonshire are set out in table 1. The money is used for schools capital investment projects both large and small. In addition, the Executive has offered revenue support of £5.73 million per annum to Argyll and Bute and £7.15 million per annum to West Dunbartonshire towards the costs of their respective PPP projects, once the schools become available for use.

  Authorities also have general resources at their disposal, principally through borrowing and capital receipts, for capital expenditure on infrastructure, including school buildings. The Executive provides loan charges support for such borrowing, which is not specific to particular services. Total gross capital expenditure by Argyll and Bute and West Dunbartonshire on Education is set out in table 2. The full details of how all the capital resources for schools have been used by the two authorities are not held by the Executive.

  Table 1: Schools Fund Capital Grant Allocations (£000)

  

 
 1999-2000
 2000-01
 2001-02
 2002-03
 2003-04
 2004-05
 2005-06
 2006-07


 Argyll and Bute
 600
 600
 860
 576
 737
 1,541
 1,943
 2,639


 West Dunbartonshire
 550
 550
 797
 550
 746
 1,560
 1,967
 2,671



  Table 2: Education - Total Gross Capital Expenditure (including payments funded from revenue) (£000)

  

 
 1999-2000
 2000-01
 2001-02
 2002-03
 2003-04
 2004-05
 2005-06


 Argyll and Bute
 3,336
 2,530
 2,894
 3,003
 2,563
 2,350
 4,551


 West Dunbartonshire
 5,034
 3,034
 3,974
 2,271
 3,875
 1,821
 2,863



  Source: As reported by local authorities on Capital Payment Returns (CPR5).

  Notes:

  1. Education includes nursery, primary, secondary and special schools

  2. Figures do not include expenditure on Public Private Partnership (PPP) schemes, where the capital expenditure is incurred by the private sector partner, not the local authority. Authorities make annual payments to their PPP partners over the contract period in respect of capital works, services and on-going maintenance.

  3. Figures in Table 2 include Schools Fund capital grant expenditure.

Schools

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (Sol): To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost is of the biometric scanner system recently installed in Todholm Primary School in Paisley.

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (Sol): To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost would be of supplying a biometric scanner system in every school.

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (Sol): To ask the Scottish Executive who is paying for the biometric scanner system recently installed in Todholm Primary School in Paisley.

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (Sol): To ask the Scottish Executive who is supplying the biometric scanner system recently installed in Todholm Primary School in Paisley.

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (Sol): To ask the Scottish Executive how the contract for supply of a biometric scanner system in Todholm Primary School in Paisley was awarded.

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (Sol): To ask the Scottish Executive who stores the personal data from the biometric scanner system recently installed in Todholm Primary School in Paisley.

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (Sol): To ask the Scottish Executive what safeguards are in place in respect of the storage of personal data from the biometric scanner system recently installed in Todholm Primary School in Paisley.

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (Sol): To ask the Scottish Executive whether parents and pupils have the right to opt out of using the biometric scanner system recently installed in Todholm Primary School in Paisley.

Robert Brown: This information is not held centrally. The decision to install a biometric scanning system in Todholm Primary School was made by Renfrewshire Council. Any requests for information regarding this system should be directed to Renfrewshire Council.

Schools

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (Sol): To ask the Scottish Executive how the cost of implementing any proposal to supply a biometric scanner system in every school would be met and from which budget this funding would come.

Robert Brown: There is currently no proposal to implement such systems across schools in Scotland.

Schools

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (Sol): To ask the Scottish Executive whether parents and pupils would have the right to opt out of using biometric scanner systems installed in any schools.

Robert Brown: There is currently no proposal to implement such systems across schools in Scotland. The specific detail of any system which is implemented in a Scottish school would be a matter for the relevant council.

Scottish Executive Expenditure

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Independent): To ask the Scottish Executive what its budget is for (a) advertising, (b) marketing and (c) any other promotional activity for (i) 2006-07 and (ii) 2007-08.

Mr Tom McCabe: The total budget was set for a three year period, 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08, at £12.7 million. This is a flat rate and no inflationary index increase applies. Advertising expenditure was reduced by 25% in 2002-03 and has since remained capped.

Scottish Executive Funding

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (Sol): To ask the Scottish Executive what monies have been allocated to address (a) educational, (b) housing, (c) health and (d) income deprivation issues in (i) East Ayrshire, (ii) North Ayrshire, (iii) South Ayrshire, (iv) Dumfries and Galloway, (v) Scottish Borders, (vi) South Lanarkshire and (vii) East Lothian in each year since 1999.

Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested has already been provided in response to question S2W-26938 on 28 June 2006 and the associated document laid in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 40256) which provided figures on funding allocated for the purpose of eradicating deprivation in each local authority area in each year since 1999. The Executive has also allocated funding to promote financial inclusion and help address income deprivation. Information on these allocations is detailed in the responses to questions S2W-17093 on 6 June 2005 and S2W-17701 on 1 July 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

  Since 1999 the principal targeted funding programmes for tackling deprivation have been the Social Inclusion Partnership and Better Neighbourhood Services Funds. These were merged under the Community Regeneration Fund from 2005-06. For each programme, the purpose of the funding is to tackle deprivation "in the round" with decisions on tackling particular issues, such as educational, housing, health and income deprivation, taken at the local level.

Scottish Land Court

Richard Lochhead (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much expenditure was incurred operating the Scottish Land Court in each of the last three years and is projected for the current year, giving the number of hearings considered each year and showing the number of successful and unsuccessful appeals in each case.

Cathy Jamieson: The salaries for the members and staff of the Scottish Land Court for the years 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06 are given below. During the years in question, the Land Court shared accommodation and other running costs with the Lands Tribunal for Scotland so no separate figures are available. Figures for the combined costs are given below.

  Estimated salary costs for 2006-07 are given below.

  The Scottish Land Court now share accommodation and other running costs with five other organisations in a new building in Edinburgh so separate running cost figures are not available.

  The number of hearings from each year and the number of appeals by way of Stated Case to the Court of Session are given below.

  

 
 2003-04
 2004-05
 2005-06
2006-07 (estimated)


 *Chair’s Salary
 59,580
 61,070
 62,902
 65,000


 Member Salaries
 126,682 
 139,915 
 154,891 
 158,050 


 Staff Salaries
 310,546 
 321,685 
 345,661 
 353,000 


 Combined net running costs for Court and Tribunal
 298,791 
 322,656 
 384,445 
 N/A


 Number of Hearings
 37
 41
 50
 


 Number of Appeals to Court of Session. None was successful
 2
 -
 1
 N/A



  Note: *Chair is also President of the Lands Tribunal for Scotland and figures represent 50% of total salary.

Sectarianism

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many incidents of sectarian violence have been reported in each year since 1999, broken down by police force area.

Cathy Jamieson: This information is not held centrally.

Smoking

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of mothers have smoked during pregnancy in each of the last three years, also broken down by NHS board.

Lewis Macdonald: Percentage of Mothers Smoking at Booking.

  

 
 Year Ending 31 March


 2003
 2004
 2005


 Scotland
 25.3
 23.9
 22.7


 Argyll and Clyde
 24.1
 21.3
 23.0


 Ayrshire and Arran
 29.9
 28.5
 29.6


 Borders
 25.8
 24.8
 27.6


 Dumfries and Galloway
 28.0
 21.9
 25.3


 Fife
 29.3
 27.7
 28.0


 Forth Valley
 27.0
 25.3
 23.1


 Grampian
 24.2
 23.9
 21.3


 Greater Glasgow
 26.4
 24.8
 23.8


 Highland
 26.8
 26.4
 23.1


 Lanarkshire
 27.5
 24.5
 25.3


 Lothian
 17.9
 17.6
 12.6


 Orkney
 18.3
 12.3
 15.6


 Shetland
 14.2
 10.7
 12.3


 Tayside
 28.6
 28.3
 26.8


 Western Isles
 20.8
 14.1
 17.1



  Source: ISD Scotland, SMR02.

  Notes:

  1. There are data quality issues around the "smoking at booking" data item and a revision was made to the previously published information on the ISD Scotland website. Please refer to http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/4416.html for comprehensive background notes. Figures above reflect the revised information.

  2. Excludes home births and births at non-NHS hospitals.

  3. Where four or more babies are involved in a pregnancy, birth details are recorded only for the first three babies delivered.

  4. Data for Scotland includes births where NHS board of residence is unknown or outside Scotland.

  5. Data for Tayside NHS Board for 2005 are incomplete.

  6. It is not possible to identify mothers who give up smoking after initial booking.

Social Inclusion

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish its new digital inclusion strategy.

George Lyon: The new strategy is being developed following a wide ranging consultation with practitioners, citizens and policy makers and is on track to be finalised at the end of 2006. The strategy will include an action plan which will seek to address the issues from the consultation and ensure that digital inclusion is at the heart of relevant policy development and service delivery.

Social Inclusion

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what assurances will be in place to ensure that programmes arising from its new digital inclusion strategy are targeted towards those groups most socially excluded, such as elderly people, disabled people and people on low and fixed incomes, to enable them to benefit from the programmes.

George Lyon: In developing the revised digital inclusion strategy, the Scottish Executive will take on board the findings from the review of the initiatives implemented under the previous strategy, which confirmed the earlier identified target groups were still relevant in relation to the digital divide. To deliver the revised strategy and in line with the findings from the widespread consultation activities, the Scottish Executive will promote collaboration with practitioners with an emphasis on supporting service delivery partners to deliver activities that are sustainable, cohesive, have potential for national rollout, and are based on strong evidence supported by a sustainable business case, to ensure new and innovative ways of working are implemented to tackle the digital divide, particularly with target groups.

Sport

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what (a) funding and (b) other support it or its agencies have given to sports organisations in each year since 1999, broken down by sport.

Patricia Ferguson: All Executive funding for sport is routed through sportscotland and details of its grant in aid is published in sportscotland’s annual reports. sportscotland operates a number of funding programmes that can be accessed by sports organisations. In its annual report, sportscotland publishes a summary of amounts invested in individual sports and details of individual awards made can be obtained from sportscotland direct.

Sport

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why the estimated completion date for the Sighthill Park municipal stadium in Edinburgh has moved from May 2009 to June 2011 and whether it expects any further delay to this project.

Patricia Ferguson: The start and completion dates for the Sighthill Park municipal stadium project were based on projections from City of Edinburgh Council which have proved to be unrealistic as the project has progressed. A contributory factor in the delay of this project was due to a delay in obtaining planning consent for the project.

  Sportscotland are concerned about delays in the timescales for this project and are in regular discussions with City of Edinburgh Council to try and resolve any problems as they arise.

  City of Edinburgh Council have not raised any concerns about the project during these meetings and I have no reason to expect any further delays with this project.

Sport

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why the estimated completion date for the Royal Commonwealth Pool in Edinburgh upgrade has moved from January 2009 to January 2011 and whether it expects any further delay to the project.

Patricia Ferguson: The start and completion dates for the Royal Commonwealth Pool upgrade were based on projections from City of Edinburgh Council which have proved to be unrealistic as the project has progressed. A contributory factor in the delay of this project was due to a delay in obtaining planning consent for the project.

  Sportscotland are concerned about delays in the timescales for this project and are in regular discussions with City of Edinburgh Council to try and resolve any problems as they arise.

  City of Edinburgh Council have not raised any concerns about the project during these meetings and I have no reason to expect any further delays with this project.

Sport

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why the estimated completion date for the East End national indoor sports arena in Glasgow has moved from March 2009 to August 2009 and whether it expects any further delay to the project.

Patricia Ferguson: The start and completion dates for the East End national indoor sports arena project were based on projections from Glasgow City Council which have proved to be unrealistic as the project has progressed. A contributory factor in the delay of this project was due to a delay in obtaining planning consent for the project. Glasgow City Council advise that the estimated completion date for this project is May 2010.

  Sportscotland are concerned about delays in the timescale for this project and are in regular discussions with Glasgow City Council to try and resolve any problems as they arise.

  Glasgow City Council have not raised any concerns about the project during these meetings and I have no reason to expect any further delays with this project.

Sport

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why the estimated completion date for the Scotstoun municipal stadium in Glasgow has moved from May 2007 to May 2008 and whether it expects any further delay to the project.

Patricia Ferguson: The start and completion dates for the Scotstoun municipal stadium project were based on projections from Glasgow City Council which have proved to be unrealistic as the project has progressed. A contributory factor in the delay of this project was due to a delay in obtaining planning consent for the project. Glasgow City Council advise that the estimated completion date for this project is February 2009.

  Sportscotland are concerned about delays in the timescales for this project and are in regular discussions with Glasgow City Council to try and resolve any problems as they arise.

  Glasgow City Council have not raised any concerns about the project during these meetings and I have no reason to expect any further delays with this project.

Sport

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why the estimated completion date for the Toryglen indoor football facility in Glasgow has moved from September 2007 to July 2008 and whether it expects any further delay to the project.

Patricia Ferguson: The start and completion dates for the Toryglen indoor football facility were based on projections from Glasgow City Council which have proved to be unrealistic as the project has progressed. A contributory factor in the delay of this project was due to a delay in obtaining planning consent for the project. Glasgow City Council advise that the estimated completion date for this project is September 2008.

  Sportscotland are concerned about delays in this project and are in regular discussions with Glasgow City Council to try and resolve any problems as they arise.

  Glasgow City Council have not raised any concerns about the project during these meetings and I have no reason to expect any further delays with this project.

Sport

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why the estimated completion date for the Ravenscraig indoor athletics training facility in North Lanarkshire has moved from August 2007 to September 2008 and whether it expects any further delay to the project.

Patricia Ferguson: The start and completion dates for the Ravenscraig indoor athletics training facility were based on projections from North Lanarkshire Council which have proved to be unrealistic as the project has progressed. A principal factor in the delay of this project is due to a significant delay in obtaining planning consent for the project. North Lanarkshire Council advise that several objections have been received in respect of the planning application.

  This planning application is presently the subject of an appeal which has been heard by the Court of Session and is now going through the House of Lords.

  Sportscotland are concerned about delays in the timescales for this project and are in regular discussions with North Lanarkshire Council to try and resolve any problems as they arise. However, at this time, North Lanarkshire Council are unable to give any commitment that there will be no further delay with this project.

Transport

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the latest available information is on the average drive time to (a) post offices, (b) supermarkets, (c) primary schools and (d) GPs for residents of (i) Dundee, (ii) Angus and (iii) Aberdeenshire.

Ross Finnie: Information on average drive times to post offices, primary schools and GPs is not available at local authority level. Due to the size of local authorities and the variation within them, a single drive time per local authority would not be meaningful.

  However, information on average drive times to post offices, primary schools and GPs can be found in the background data for the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) 2006 at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/SIMD/Background-Data-2006.

  Average drive times to supermarkets can be found in the background data for the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) 2004 at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2004/06/19421/38085.

  For SIMD 2006 drive times to supermarkets were replaced with drive times to shopping facilities.

  The drive times in the SIMD are provided at the data zone level. Data zones are small areas with an average population of around 750 people. The data zone level drive times are population weighted average drive times taken to reach a key service and cannot then be averaged to local authority level.

Transport

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what financial support it provides to each local authority for the provision of Dial-A-Journey services.

Tavish Scott: No funds are provided to local authorities specifically for dial-a-journey services. All Scottish local authorities except the four city Councils receive grants under the Rural Public Passenger Transport Grant Scheme which they are free to spend as they see fit on conventional bus services, community transport services or demand responsive transport such as dial-a-journey in rural areas.

  Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Argyll and Bute, Dundee City, Edinburgh City, Fife, Glasgow City and Highland Councils received Scottish Executive funding in the period 2003-04 to 2005-06 under a demand responsive transport pilot scheme. These Councils continue to receive assistance in 2006-07 and 2007-08 in respect of successful projects under the scheme.

Vaccines

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the childhood immunisation rates for Angus Community Health Partnership have been in the last quarter for which the information is available.

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the childhood immunisation rates for Aberdeenshire Community Health Partnership have been in the last quarter for which the information is available.

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the childhood immunisation rates for Dundee Community Health Partnership have been in the last quarter for which the information is available.

Mr Andy Kerr: The information requested is published on the Information Services Division of the NHS in Scotland (ISD) website at:

  http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/info3.jsp?pContentID=2486&p_applic=CCC&p_service=Content.show&.‎

Visually Impaired People

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people over the age of 75 it estimates are visually impaired.

Lewis Macdonald: The latest information on visually impaired people was published by the Executive on 31 October 2006, in the statistics release Registered blind and partially sighted persons, Scotland 2006 . In 2006, the number of people aged 75 and over registered as blind or partially sighted was estimated to be 24,047. Research studies suggest that between a quarter and a third of visually impaired people are in fact registered.